January 21, 2017 10:57am ESTJanuary 21, 2017 10:57am ESTIt’s called “UCLA Seal,” and the Cavaliers use it when they surround Kyrie Irving and LeBron James with three spot-up shooters.LeBron James(Getty Images)

The Cavaliers are one of the few teams in the NBA that can pick teams apart without running anything fancy on offense. Simple actions like a 3–1 pick-and-roll between LeBron James and Kyrie Irving can send defenses into a tailspin. Similarly, clearing the floor for Irving to attack 1-on-1 while Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and Channing Frye support him by spotting-up on the 3-point line puts defenses in an incredibly delicate situation.

However, that doesn’t mean the Cavaliers don’t have a few tricks up their sleeves when they need a basket. One play in particular they’ve fallen in love with lately is called “UCLA Seal,” and they tend to reserve it for when Irving and James are surrounded by three spot-up shooters in a close game.

The play begins with Irving dribbling the ball towards Love and James on the right side of the court. Love is positioned behind the 3-point line on the wing and James sets himself up close to Love at the elbow. Meanwhile, Frye camps out on the opposite wing with Iman Shumpert nearby in the corner.

The formation itself looks odd. The power forward, Love, is on one wing for a 3-pointer while the center, Frye, is on the other side of the court. The shooting guard, Shumpert, is in the corner and the small forward, James, is at the elbow. It’s basically a lineup of four shooters with James playing the role of point-center as the only player inside the 3-point line.

The next step: Irving passes the ball to Love and nonchalantly moves in between Love and James. The key for the play is there’s no defender close to the basket. With Frye spotting up on the opposite wing and Shumpert standing in the corner, Devin Booker and Tyson Chandler don’t want to help off either of them. If they do, one of James, Irving or Love will find them for an open jump shot.

Once Irving runs in-between Love and James, Love passes the ball to James at the elbow. Then, almost without thinking, James tips the pass over two defenders and leads Irving to the basket for a layup. The defense isn’t expecting James to make the pass because the window is so small, and the Cavaliers make it look like they are just going through the motions with upward of 15 seconds remaining on the shot clock.

Also, perhaps more importantly, who other than James can make a touch pass through traffic while their body is parallel to the sideline with any accuracy? The degree of difficulty is ridiculous.

Here it is in video form:

By the way, the Suns are far from the only team that has fallen for it this season. The Nets react in almost the exact same way in the video below. Now that you know what’s coming, though, watch the timing between Irving and James. Irving fools his defender into thinking he’s just clearing out by slowly making his way towards the basket and looking away from the ball. He also uses his body well to wall off Caris LeVert — think of it almost as a box-out for a rebound — to give him the space he needs to cut.

Here’s another example, only against a much better defensive team. This time, notice how Shumpert sets a screen for DeAndre Liggins on the weak side to prevent Marco Belinelli and Jeremy Lamb from helping out. It’s less of a necessity when Frye is on the court because he’s one of the best spot-up shooters in league, but Liggins has made only 14 3-pointers in 32 games. If they don’t involve him in some sort of off-ball action, his defender can afford to back way off of him and break up the play.

You might not be surprised to hear the Spurs made this play famous in the NBA — as Half Court Hoops broke down here — albeit with a few differences. The idea was the same, but they had a center in Tim Duncan take over the role of James and a shooting guard in Manu Ginobili take over the role of Irving. They also relied on the cutter’s ability to lull the defense to sleep rather than the quick pass from the elbow.

While it doesn’t make one version better or more effective than the other, there’s no doubt the Cavaliers have made it more exciting.